Sometimes They Come Back
by Hikari Takaishi
Summary: The Digidestined are having disturbing visitations by a few of their past enemies -- and they're not enjoying it at all. Their dreams, their minds, and their lives are intruded as these digimon take revenge and turn their world upside down. Chap. 2 up
1. Dreams

Author's Notes: About the story… This will be a tale that plays with emotions, toys with the mind, and rattles the brains inside of your head ****

Author's Notes: About the story… This will be a tale that plays with emotions, toys with the mind, and rattles the brains inside of your head. It will teeter from rating-to-rating depending on what you call G and what you call PG-13. (Sorry, I can't push myself into writing anything over that yet.) However, some parts of the story may seem a little over the thirteen limit, but the profanity will be nothing more than that. 

The characters might be showing some attraction to each other, but the story in general is (as of now) left with no "official" couples. Futures may change, though, it really all depends on where the chapters lead. Until then, only hints are dropped off here and there. Now, you must realize as the reader, you can't put a leash on your imagination. If I do end up with a couple put together and you do not like them whatsoever, please don't break off connection with the story. I'll try my best as the writer to keep the action, interest, and horror up. ^-^

This story is also taking place after the Digimon Adventure 02 series… but it has an ending like the first season did. Meaning the children could not go back into the Digital World freely. Yep, they're partner-less. If you don't like it, then I guess you can click on that pretty little back button and try to find another story over 5kb. 

Throughout this story I'll be using the Japanese names of the Chosen Children (or Digidestined, if you wish) and the only time I'll use their American given names is in terms of nicknames. (But things like calling Miyako "Yolei"… Well… that won't be happening for a long while.)-(Plus, I call Tailmon "Gatomon" because I just don't have that certain appeal to Tailmon. Devimon will be used instead of Vamdemon for the reason that it's just easier for me to remember. .o Sorry.) 

Lastly, the story itself is not stolen from anyone and as far as I know, it is an original idea from my crazy little brain. Oh yeah, do you think Digimon belongs to me? I didn't either.

Okay… Let's start this off on the right foot…

****

Sometimes They Come Back

Only months after their last adventure, the twelve children who sacrificed part of their childhood slowly began to adapt to their normal lives. It wasn't the same anymore. They had no power to change the ways of the worlds and because of that, they could not see their best friends. Though they attempted to find a loophole, they failed, try after try they failed. 

And so they found themselves wishing they could be in midst of all the trouble again. They wanted to be in danger to have their friends come and save them. They yearned for that attention they had when they held authority to enter a world many could not. Today not even one child could enter through the gates to get that feeling of being downloaded to a new world. Not one could witness the happenings of time from a world that kept no time at all. No one could see the magical creatures that contained human features like their destined partner. 

Time can only tell when these children will be touched with the Digital World again. 

~*~

"What should we do today?" a familiar brunette scratched his jaw while sprawling himself across the cushions of the couch. His dark brown eyes scanned the empty living room and fell upon the kitchen. Another brown-haired child walked barefoot on the tile, her hands holding two drinks, one with a straw and one without. She delivered the one with the drink to the older male and sat herself on her father's recliner. 

"I don't really care, Taichi. Nothing's very interesting anymore." She sipped her refreshment and added, "Maybe we should call someone over."

"Maybe," the other replied, lazily tasting the beverage through the straw.

She frowned. "Oh, gosh. You're not that bored and lazy."

Taichi pretended to struggle to get his foot on the surface of the coffee table then patted his stomach. "I'm a grown man, Hikari. Let me be lazy."

"Is that what all grown men do?"

"Any man who calls himself a --" he was cut off by the phone ringing and instead of him finishing his sentence, he drifted into sipping the drink again.

Hikari rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of the carpet. She walked to the phone and picked it up with her regular greeting, "Hello? Yagami residence, Hikari speaking." There was a pause before she turned to look at her brother whose lips never left the straw. "Well, I would let you speak to him, but he's too busy being a man."

This cued Taichi's attention and he sat up. "Oh," his sister said while bringing over the phone, "looks like he's done."

"Matured enough yet?" Hikari overheard Taichi's friend, Izumi Koushiro, ask.

"Well, ask me a question." He took another drink while he was waiting. "Dude… what is that? French? …Calculus? Where's that? Is that a part of England?"

Hikari shook her head and sat down on the soft couch, her drink still in hand. Glancing out the window, she observed what a beautiful summer day it was. There were traces of clouds that fell over the blue sky, but otherwise, it was perfect. The temperature was fair, not too cold, but not extremely hot. It was the kind of day that kids would be skating in the parks or walking to the mall. But ever since she had to say goodbye to a dear friend, going to the mall just wasn't the same.

It had been several months since she parted with her best friend… again. She once heard that it was easy to say goodbye. Now she wanted to find whoever said that and punch him in the gut to say it would never be easy. Hikari eyed the fluffy clouds and stared at them for a moment, trying to match some sort of an image with the shading of the cloud. She came up empty handed.

While half-listening to her brother ramble on about his minutes sipping soda, Hikari watched the clouds roll by, reminiscing about the past few months. Ever since she left adventure, life felt a bit dull. School, she found, was repetitive and entertainment was seemingly lost. All she had was in that little furball of hers and now she was gone, too. 

She wanted to see her digimon partner again -- so bad. It hurt to go through the same ordeal twice. She wanted to say that they will be popping up in the Digital World again, but she, nor the others, knew if they would get that chance. If she could do anything, _anything_ to get a piece of the Digital World again, she would. Just give her a chance and she would take _anything_ to remind her of the world.

"All right," Taichi concluded the conversation, "I guess you've made me angry. Or jealous. Either way. Have fun at that movie thing. Bye."

"Movie thing?" Hikari blinked herself back into reality. "Is Koushiro going to be in a movie?!"

"Sort of," her brother shrugged, ignoring her sudden burst of curiosity. 

She lowered her head a bit to look her slouching brother straight in the eye. "Hello? I'm his friend, too, ya know."

Taichi stretched his arms out to the side. "Well, his mom won this contest thing saying that she and four others get to be in an upcoming movie as pupils. He gets his own line and everything."

"His mom? A pupil? Needless to say she gave it to him, right?"

"Yeah. But she herself still gets to be in it. The teacher aid or something."

"…So who are the other three people going?"

"Oh," he shrugged, "Yamato… Me…"

"You!" She knew it was going to happen anyway, but she had to react to it. "And who else?"

"Hasn't been decided."

Hikari grinned at the words, "Say, did you like your drink?"

"Yeah. Refreshin'."

"Good," she stood on the couch and prepared herself to climb off the back, "I'll go deliver one to Koushiro."

"Nah-uh," Taichi shook his head and grabbed his little sister's foot to pull her back down. "This is Koushiro we're talking about. Bribery doesn't come in cups, they come with keyboards."

"So I'll give him our computer--"

"Grow up, 'Kari." Taichi raised a brow at her behavior. "Anyway, if you did somehow convince him to take you, we might not be able to make it. Remember, Mom and Dad won't be home for a while."

"How could I forget, Mom gave _me_ the keys and told me to keep them away from _you_." Hikari sneered and pushed him on the shoulder. "Besides, it'd only take a couple hours… It's not like they'll come home and think we got wrapped up in another Digiworld crisis."

"Tch, I wish," Taichi leaned back against the couch and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Better than sitting here."

The younger Yagami sighed and turned her attention to the clouds again. They sure seemed a bit darker than they were a few minutes ago. Her eyes glanced from one window to the next. What she saw in one was different from the other. Taichi must have noticed the same thing for he was giving a quizzical look towards the stranger window.

"Weren't those clouds…" he started.

"Um… white?" she blinked as the clouds began to gather. "Well, summer is never the same."

"Apparently," he muttered and shook his head. "I say we watch some TV instead."

"Nothing good is on." 

"Of course there isn't anything good. But there might be something bad that we can make fun of." Taichi twirled the remote on the palm of his hand and clicked on the power button. Just as he did so, a flash of lightning darted through the dark clouds nearby. Hikari raised her eyes to the ceiling light as it flickered ever so slowly. Before either of them could say a word, the light faded and the television set was off.

"Something doesn't seem right, Taichi." Hikari glanced out the other window. The once white clouds were now a gray, darkening vision. 

Taichi tossed the remote on the table and stood up, "It's just a summer storm, Hikari. This happened a lot of times before. Clouds do this sort of thing, okay?"

"Yeah," she murmured, watching a few raindrops land against the window glass. "What time is it?"

"Uh, ten after… ten?" Taichi squinted towards the clock. "Uh, now twenty after… twenty 'til… Something's wrong with the clock…"

"Um… just um, low batteries. Batteries do that sort of thing," Hikari lied.

"Yeah," he glanced at his watch. "It's six after… six."

Hikari cleared her throat and smiled, "Let's see if the phones work."

She reached down to the coffee table and lifted the cream-colored telephone into her hand. After dialing Koushiro's number and waiting for two rings, his mother's innocent voice came across the line. They exchanged their hellos before Hikari asked if she could speak to Koushiro.

"He just left for your place --"

"Hello?" Hikari talked into the phone, "hello? Mrs. Izumi? Ugh, great… Mrs. Izumi said that he was coming over here."

"Funny, he didn't tell me."

Thinking it was her brother's immature jokes, she rolled her eyes and glanced out the window. "Wow… it's raining kind of hard. If he is on his way over, I hope he is okay."

~*~

In the dark streets of Odaiba, Koushiro hastily walked. The rain had gotten so harsh in the past few minutes that he couldn't believe it. There was a strange, cold breeze following the surprise summer storm and he wished that he had chosen to wear pants instead of shorts. Just minutes in this rain made his legs cold and his lips turn a faint blue. He began to wish that he never set foot out of his home. But how did this storm gather so quickly, he wondered.

A loud crash of thunder startled the youth and he jerked his head toward the sky. While still looking upwards, he started to run down the flooding sidewalks, his shoes clashing down on the puddles and making the water fly everywhere. His red hair was now brown looking from being damp and his eyes darted like that of a cautious feline for its prey. The streets were too dark in the middle and so to Koushiro, too freaky to stop to take a breath.

At every streetlight he stopped to look both ways on the road and to catch his breath. But he never could shake the feeling that something was following him. Sure, it could have been his imagination, but with his imaginativeness running away as frequently as it does, he wasn't too sure of anything he thought of anymore. 

When his side begin to beg him to take a breather, the youth leaned himself against a wall of a building that was right next to the light. Every so often a car would pass by, but Koushiro saw no lights on other than the ones to keep the street lit. For all he knew, he left his home when the sun was shining and the radio was playing a song he hated. Or maybe he had just imagined the sunshine?

"Come on, Koushiro," he shook his head and got off the wall. Just as he began to walk again, the echoing sound of screeching tires flew to his ears and he swirled himself around on his heels to search for any cars. Much to his surprise, the street he was walking on was completely empty. 

"Could've… could've just been a couple streets over," he rubbed his hands together and took the step off of the sidewalk. His foot splashed the muddy water all around him and Koushiro grumbled at the luck he was having that day. Taking a step forward, he saw that a car was coming on his side of the road. Since it was a distance away, he hustled to get to the other side. He would have made it, but his shoelace caught the drainpipes and refused to let it go. 

His mind didn't grasp onto this trip until he fell forward on the wet pavement, skidding the palms of his hands and his knees. Drawing in a quick breath through clenched teeth, he shot his head up to see the headlights of the car. It was getting rather close and it wasn't showing any sign of slowing down.

Koushiro's eyes widened as he threw his hands in the air to try to get the driver's attention. "Hey!" he tried to call out, but his voice cracked from having a dry throat. One hand clasped itself around his neck while the other still waved frantically. "Hey!"

He scrambled to stand up but his left leg failed to keep his weight and he fell backward onto the road again. The car finally began to slow but it was still going fast to his eyes. On the other side of the road, another car was approaching at tremendous speeds. Koushiro, now fearing the newcomer rather than the other, attempted to crawl his way out of the road. On the way, he stopped to try to untangle his shoelace from the metal. As his numb fingers fumbled with the string, the car came closer, and closer, and closer.

"Forget this," he whimpered childishly and slipped his foot out of his shoe. Forcing himself to stand on his feet, he then glanced at the speeding car. _Go! Run! Get out of the road!_ He tried to tell himself everything to get out of the street, but his legs would not cooperate. His hands trembled terribly and his legs began to take their lead. 

Mere yards away was the oncoming car and all the youth could do was stand there like a dear, watching the lights. As the car passed the intersection, the other approached his back. The cars were now equal distance apart and he was left standing in the street with quivering legs. A crash of thunder made the boy jump and that's when he realized _he_ was the one in danger. He snapped his head to the left and tried his best to get out of the road.

When he heard the horn honk loudly and several times, he thought he had no chance whatsoever. But then he tripped over the curb of the sidewalk and landed roughly on the ground. The screeching of tires came to his ears again, only this time, he was right where the sound originated. Terrified, Koushiro darted his eyes to the street and expected to see metal, glass, and blood over the ground. 

He saw nothing.

Koushiro searched all around the streets but all that were in them were puddles and his shoe. As he walked into the middle of the street to retrieve his shoe, a faint laughing came across the sky like thunder. He just _knew_ he recognized that laugh… but he could not put a face to it. The laughing, now louder and more mocking, made the child shiver as he pulled his shoe back on. A lightning flash decorated the sky along with another crash of thunder that sounded like the laugh of…

"Piedmon?" Koushiro blinked wildly while his chest began to heave from the loss of air from all the confusion. The laughter, or what he thought was laughter, soon faded and it convinced Koushiro to run the rest of the way. 

As he pushed himself through the front doors of Taichi's apartment building, the lights slowly began to flicker back on. He as well as the other people within the building walls looked up at the ceiling in confusion. Slowly he began to walk to the elevator, wondering if it was safe to ride on it already. There was a quiet _beep_ and the doors opened in front of Koushiro. People around him began to pile into the shaft and he decided that if were unsafe, at least he wouldn't be the only one about to wet his pants.

Several seconds later, the doors shut and the elevator began to move its way upward. Taichi lived on the fifth flat; there were two stops before he would arrive on the right floor. He waited patiently, though shaken inside, and crossed his arms over his damp chest. No one said anything and it only made Koushiro wonder. 

He wondered about the sudden storm; reasonable answer to that: the cold air molecules came down from the mountains and clashed with the heat from the lower lands. When they collided, the clouds were made. That could have been right.

He wondered about the cars: the story he was just reading on his laptop dealt with a car accident. The story still lingered in his mind and because of his fear of the storm, they mixed and formed a silly idea that he was in a car wreck. That was also reasonable.

He wondered about the sounds: because the sight, story, and storm had spooked his mind, he created a story for himself to be in and he let his imagination grow wild. That was understandable, it could happen.

But the pain was so real…

His thoughts were cut by the woman beside him tapping his shoulder. When he looked up, she gestured to the number five that was lit up and he nodded as a thank you. Koushiro walked into the off-white corridor and paused as the lights fought to keep themselves on. Soft rumbling was heard in the distance and he nearly forgot where he was. 

__

The pain… He looked down at his hands, where the stinging had begun to bother him. His eyes scanned the small trails of blood that dripped off the tips of his fingers. _That bad?_ The small scrapes on his palms had not been deep enough to cause so much blood. Looking down at his knees, he saw that there was no blood at all. 

__

"Murderer."

The youth jerked his head up and backed himself against the wall, nervously searching for the source of the voice. "Taichi, that isn't funny."

When his statement did not get an answer, he slowly began move himself towards Taichi's apartment door. He suddenly wished that he lived in a closer apartment so he didn't have to travel as far. Wiping the blood off his hands and, having no place better to wipe it, onto his shorts, he then slipped his way to the door and raised his hand to knock on it. But he noticed that the blood began to drip from his hand again. 

Once more he cleaned his hands and raised his hand to knock on the door again. The blood had returned, but when he checked, the scrapes he had were all dried.

__

"Murderer."

Koushiro backed himself against the door and frantically tried to get rid of the redness on his hands. When it wouldn't come off, tears swelled into his eyes and he kicked the door with his shoe, afraid to touch it with his hand. He heard the same whispering voice that called him a murderer and he hid his hands under his shirt as Taichi opened the door.

"Koushiro, what's wrong?" he said as the redhead pushed his way inside, trying to hide both his hands and his tears. Hikari asked the same thing and he shook his head in refusal to say anything. The next thing the two Yagamis knew, Koushiro had locked himself in the bathroom and did not say a single word; he just ran the water in the sink and sniffed only a few times.

"I wonder what happened?" Hikari whispered to her brother who was knocking on the door in a steady rhythm.

"Hey, Koush', what's up? What happened out there? Some lady tease ya?" he strung out a line of questions of which none of them were answered. At last, the water stopped and silence fell upon the Yagami residence. There was a soft click to notify that the door was unlocked and Taichi raised a hand to tell his sister to stay there. 

He idly poked his head into the bathroom and looked for his younger friend. Failing to find him from just that small portion, he glanced into the mirror to find him cradling himself inside of the shower -- his hands were still hidden. 

He raised his chin up as a silent hello and asked, "What's up?"

Koushiro raised his watery eyes and met the reflection's stare. "Something's wrong with me, Taichi. Something is really wrong with me. Not anywhere on my body…" He pointed to his head, "But in here… Something has gone wrong and I don't know what it is."

Taichi saw a few droplets of blood fall from his fingertip and fall to hug his skin on his cheek. For a brief moment, he thought Koushiro had cut himself in attempt of suicide. Instead, his eyes caught the clean wrists and slid himself into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. He knelt beside the bathtub and signaled for an explanation of his hands.

"I don't know," Koushiro exhaled, "I don't know where to start." 

Taichi took the bathroom towel off of the rack and slowly took his friend's hand to clean it. "Start from the beginning," he said while gently removing the red stains. Unlike Koushiro's attempts to get rid of it, the blood swiftly came off and none of it returned.

Hikari rocked from heel to toe and wondered what was going on. She folded her arms behind her back and began to count the little lines on her ceiling in boredom. It had been at least ten minutes and all she could hear from the hallway was shushing noises and jagged breathing. Koushiro was her friend, too! Why couldn't she know what was going on?

After growing impatient of the two, she sat down on the couch and picked up the remote to surf around random television channels. She settled on the six o'clock news and made herself comfortable.

"For other news in Odaiba," the male reporter with the bad hairpiece was saying, "a strange blackout occurred between the minutes of 6:06 PM to 6:12 PM, lasting only six minutes. This Six, Six, Six Blackout, as it was named, was possibly caused by the storm that is occurring as we speak. Our weather specialists are checking into the charts to see what had made the change in our summer weather and how it grew so quickly. Now onto the sports! Boy am I disappointed from the game last night! --"

"Six, six, six," Hikari voiced, well after the man was finished. She heard the bathroom door open and she stood up from the couch to turn towards the hallway. Taichi and his friend walked out casually as if nothing ever happened. "Well?" she asked.

"Tch, it was a guy thing, that's all," Taichi said to keep Koushiro from repeating his story. 

"Taichi…!"

"It's none of your business," he flicked her shoulder and pointed to the kitchen, "can we get something to eat?"

She flicked his shoulder back, "I'm not your slave…"

He flicked back, "But I need to comfort Koushiro."

"He seems to be comforted enough," she poked at his shoulder and stubbornly fell back onto the couch. Taichi shrugged and strolled into the kitchen, telling Koushiro that he could make any number of sandwiches… just as long as they contained a little bit of peanut butter and a little bit of jelly. When Koushiro settled on "PB and J Special," (which was a sandwich served with a soda,) the brunette stopped rambling and began to work on the food.

"They named the blackout," Hikari said for conversation.

"Oh yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah. The Six, Six, Six Blackout. It started at 6:06 and lasted for six minutes. Weird, huh?"

Koushiro raised his eyes to the window to catch a flash of lightning. The sound of screeching tires came to his mind again and this time, Hikari heard it, too. Both of them stared out the window for a long minute before he turned to look at her.

"Yeah," he replied, "weird…."

~*~

Three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with three sodas and one phone call later, the three youths made themselves comfortable inside of the living room. They chose two movies to watch but Hikari began to complain about getting tired.

"But I don't want to go to sleep," she said when her brother told her to.

"Why not?"

"I… I just don't." She couldn't have told him about the strange feeling she got when she thought about sleep. It was eerie, like something was going to happen while she was asleep. She figured that if she didn't go to sleep, that something would have to happen when she was awake. That was how these things worked, right? 

"'Kari, don't act like your seven years old," Taichi warned and turned around to face the couch that Koushiro was sleeping on. "Comfy?"

He waited a couple seconds before answering, "Yeah."

"Is he really depressed or something?"

"Hikari, stop trying to solve crimes and go to sleep."

The girl shifted within the blankets and stared at the distance between her and the two boys. "Taichi?"

"What now?" he grumbled.

"I…" she lowered her voice and inched her way towards Taichi, "I'm scared."

"Scared of what?" he asked, not bothering to lower his voice.

Hugging her pillow, she answered, "Of dreaming."

"What are you talking about?" 

"Tai', I've been having dreams -- no, nightmares."

He turned onto his back. "Well get over it. You're old enough to face your fears."

"Taichi --" She turned onto her side to look up at Koushiro. He hadn't moved at all since Taichi turned off the light. For all this time the redhead remained still, as if held back by chains and silenced by tape. This kind of behavior made the girl think, and she was sure that her brother was thinking twice as much considering the two were best friends. It had been a while since she saw Taichi's eyes filled with both worry and fear. And it had been an even longer time since she had seen Koushiro be so silent. 

There was something else to be afraid of. Something that was striking enough to spook Koushiro _and_ Taichi had to be pretty impressive. Maybe it was something Koushiro saw when he was walking in the storm? But what could he have seen to drive him to lock the bathroom door and run the water for minutes? And why wouldn't Taichi tell her what was wrong? 

Was it so bad that they had to keep it a secret? Could the secret be of an accident? Did Koushiro get hurt while walking in that storm? If he did, what hurt him? And why did he come over without informing them -- or was Taichi _really_ joking about saying he didn't know he was coming. But why would Taichi do something. Well, it was like him for saying the opposite of the facts but…

"Ugh, this is too confusing." Hikari pulled her blanket over her shoulders and closed her eyes, the sound of rain falling onto the world around her in the distance. At once, the thoughts of the storm were rushed out of her mind and she was dropped into a land of dreams. 

Images that she would have seen in nightmares were not present and for once she thought she was going to get a full night's rest. The grasslands around her looked familiar, their soft tones of green and the touches of red where flowers were growing. Trees made rustling noises in the wind and on each blade of grass, a gleam of sunlight was found. It was a world she had come to love, a world she had adored since she first set foot on it. 

There were clouds that were soft and fluffy, kinds that you would find in fairytales because this land _was_ a piece of myth brought to her hands. It was the place where she could come to feel safe because she knew she always had a friend, and because she knew that others would find this world, too. She was, after all, a Digidestined… and this was the Digital World.

This world was full of colors, green on the ground and blue in the sky. There were creatures that none other had been delighted to see other than the chosen few. That is how it was meant to be. An entire world left for the hands of twelve children. They were free to roam the lands, make new friends, and enjoy the life without the chaos.

But there was some chaos in this world. It was not perfect. She had spent her childhood defeating evil like she had read in books and seen on cartoons. Only this time it was real. _She_ was causing the bloodshed, the death, the deletion. It was her and her friends that killed living things -- but they hadn't known it was wrong, they just knew that whatever was standing in the way of safety had to be defeated. They had to kill those bad creatures. They had to destroy them… murder them.

Was it okay for a child of eight to murder something of the living? Was it okay for a group of eight to tear up the world that these creatures had taken a liking towards? Or was it wrong to come into a world they did not know about to try to fix something that they weren't meant to fix? Why were _they_ summoned to take in something so massive, so large, and so powerful into their callous action-making minds? Was it okay to be a murderer?

"Hikari!"

The familiar voice of her cat-like friend filled her dreams, her ears, and she struggled to see where her friend was. Within her dream, she saw herself, running towards the horizon. Before long, her digimon partner appeared, as if she descended from the heavens, and ran across the greens, her paws barely ever touching the ground. 

Hikari, or the dream's mirage, kneeled down and held out her arms to her friend Gatomon. As the cat pranced her way to the girl, their smiles became wider and brighter. Finally, they were able to observe their friendship in the present rather than glancing back repeatedly to the memories. What was actually just months were like years compared to Hikari; she could not wait to ask her companion if it felt the same way for her.

Just feet away, Gatomon was and she was beginning to slow down. Soon after she took notice of the reduction of speed, the cat froze in place and nearly turned back with a look of fear strung across her blue eyes. She was close enough for Hikari to see the tremble in her whiskers.

"Gatomon?" she whispered, "what's wrong?"

Before she could enter, she began to trace Gatomon's stare into the sky. She did not get a chance to find the object of fright. Instead, it found Gatomon. A large black figure collapsed from the sky, ungraceful and terrifying, and swiftly raised its black boot-covered foot towards the petrified digimon. In one motion, the strange creature stroke its foot out to the cat, harshly kicking it away before turning completely in front of Hikari.

Her caramel eyes trailed up the body, slowly realizing who this newcomer was. The dark digimon crossed her gloved arms over her chest, her lips curling into a baneful smile and one fang slipping between the two pieces of skin. In the sun, she could see the tip of this fang tinted with a shade of red. She was all too familiar with this goddess of darkness.

"LadyDevimon?" she released the air she was holding in her lungs. The sound of her name made her heart beat a couple times faster. Her legs refused to allow her to move and her arms were as lifeless as the ground beneath her. "How could this be?"

"Should murderers be allowed to live?" the aggressor let her arms drop to her sides and took a side step to the fallen digimon. "Or should they witness what pain they give to living, breathing digimon?" She paused to hastily swipe Gatomon into her arms, "Such as this little one? Would you ever murder this one, Hikari?"

The girl was too frightened to even breathe.

"Because we seem to think it was wrong, Hikari," the dark one continued, "we seem to think you have not paid the price of your punishment, Hikari." She kept saying her name as if it were a swear word, disgusting and unneeded. Her lips parted to display her wicked fangs and she added, "And we've come to finally give it to you... _Hikari._"

LadyDevimon's arm raised with Gatomon dangling helplessly at the tips of her fingers. She seemed to toy with the feeling of the cat on her skin, twisting its fur to stretch the skin. Lifting her free hand to the victim, she began to gently stroke the chin. 

"Such a loyal, strong partner you have, _Hikari_. Would you let her die?" Her index finger pushed against the skin of Gatomon's throat. 

"N-no! I wouldn't!" Hikari forced her body off of the ground. Standing on shaky legs, she faced LadyDevimon with her fists by her sides. "Now let Gatomon go!"

LadyDevimon clicked her tongue against the top of her mouth, "If only it were that simple, kiddo." 

"You can't do anything to me -- or to Gatomon! This is just a dream…!" She glanced away from the evil digimon and shook her head vigorously to wake her up. "This is just a dream!" she repeated as her brown hair began to cling to her face because of her drying tears. 

"A dream is it?" she hissed, the grasp she had on Gatomon suddenly releasing. The unconscious digimon fell to the ground with a barely audible thud. LadyDevimon's hand reached out to Hikari and two of her fingers lifted the girl's chin to stare her straight in the eye. "Then answer this question, _Hikari_… In dreams, do people hear you _scream_?"

LadyDevimon dropped her fingers from the girl's chin and automatically her hand wrapped around the fragile neck. It was warm from the sweat that was caused from the fear. Her grasped tightened and Hikari could feel the clench on her skin as her eyes peered down to the fallen Gatomon. 

"Still a dream, _Hikari_?" she whispered while pushing the girl down towards the ground. Hikari, helpless because she could not find the strength to fight back, felt her lungs burn from lack of oxygen and she closed her eyes to hide from her fear. She trembled under the other's grasp and wondered why she wasn't waking up -- it _was_ a dream!

"Or is it a nightmare?" LadyDevimon's spoke as the final push was given to the girl. 

Hikari prepared for the hard landing but it never came. A loud splash came to mind and she blinked her eyes open. Redness collapsed over her body -- or she fell on the red. Her arms flailed in surprise to find that LadyDevimon was gone and she sank into the red water. Still in need for air, she tried to pull herself back up.

She raised her right hand out of the liquid and soon realized what she had fallen into. The warm fluid hugged her fingertips and stained her skin. It was dark red and somewhat thick, the air made it dry quickly into faint traces, but she knew what it was. Fear struck her mind and she threw her arms forward and kicked her legs to get out of the warm mess. At last she pushed her head out of the sea of blood and reached towards the sky to try to get out. 

"Blood! Blood!" Hikari shrieked and clawed at the air, finding it hard to breathe. Her eyes flashed open and saw a trace of light stretching across the ceiling along with the eyes of her brother. "Taichi? Taichi!"

"Hikari? What's wrong?" he asked as she climbed out of her blankets to latch herself onto his body. 

"Taichi, it was awful! It was just awful!" she sobbed onto his shoulder, her fingernails practically tearing the flesh on his back. 

"Ouch, hey, uh, ouch?" he struggled out a laugh and pried his sister's hands away. He grabbed her by the shoulders to look into her eyes, but instead, he sighted a few bruises along her neck. "Where did you get that from?"

"Get what?" she asked, her hands finding their way to her neck. They took shape of the curve of skin and she winced slightly at her own touch. "What is it?"

"You have bruises," Taichi said when she lowered her hands. He raised his left hand and placed his fingers on the marks. "It looks like you've been… strangled."

Hikari darted her eyes from Taichi to Koushiro, who looked like he, too, had seen something horrible in his dreams. "LadyDevimon…"

"Lady -- Hikari, come on…" He stood up from the floor and glanced at the kitchen. "Let's just get something good to eat. I think we all need it."

"…The only reason you want to eat is because your stomach is a bottomless pit…" Koushiro murmured in the silence. Both the Yagamis looked at the redhead, surprised that he had finally said something. Taichi made an attempt to laugh but it came out as a snort. 

Faintly smiling, Hikari lifted herself onto her feet and said, "It'll at least keep our minds occupied."

"Let's see what we have," Taichi strolled into the kitchen, opening each cupboard. "We have a variety of cereals, all of which I say are superb."

"You say everything is superb as long as it's edible," Koushiro replied. That remark made Hikari giggle.

"…Or we can have our chef whip up some tasty delights called eggs," Taichi took out the egg cartons.

"I'm not going to serve you guys breakfast," Hikari leaned against the counter and gave her brother a look.

"We can settle for toaster-made waffles with maple syrup?" Taichi suggested.

"That sounds good," Koushiro shrugged.

Hikari shrugged as well, "As long as we get something to eat."

The oldest being there closed each cupboard and took out the waffles to serve breakfast. Before long, they were seated on the table, munching on their food and chattering about everything but their spooks. Hikari excused herself to get them each a glass of something to drink.

"Okay, I want milk… Koushiro wants orange juice…" she voiced while reaching into the refrigerator. "Do you want blood, Taichi?"

"What?" he jerked his head up and glanced at the fridge. A tall, gangly figure stepped out from behind the door and gestured to a cup of red liquid. "Blood does the body good… can't live without it."

"D-Devimon?" Taichi stood up from the table. 

The figure paced the few steps towards the redhead and the wings that looked like the bones were being choked by leather twitched a little bit. "What's the matter, Taichi? Don't like blood?" He dropped the glass and Taichi jumped, but Koushiro continued to eat and Hikari began to pour milk into a cup. Devimon began to reach for the young computer whiz, his fingers curling lightly to prepare to wrap around his throat.

"Koushiro!" Taichi shouted and found darkness in his sight. He blinked his eyes open and stared at the ceiling, looking at Hikari and Koushiro. "What the fu-"

"Excuse your words!" his sister interrupted. "What happened, Taichi?"

The brunette adjusted his sight, looking at the pale Koushiro to the bruised Hikari and reached out to touch both of their faces. Both of them glanced at each other in confusion then stood up to walk away.

"I think he got a little too distant in his dreams," Koushiro said to the girl.

"Really," she agreed and sat down at the table, a waffle on a plate placed in front of her.

Taichi twisted within his blanket before climbing out and rose to his feet, silently viewing the two as if he were still in a dream. "What happen to your neck, Hikari?"

She gingerly touched the skin of her neck with her fingers. "I… I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but I guess you wouldn't believe me."

"Are you doing okay, Koushiro?"

"I'm fine." He poked innocently at his waffle. "What about you? Why are you dreaming about Devimon?"

"…Tch, how should I know? I did have a strange mix of drinks last night," Taichi shook his head to clear his mind. "Don't mix your pop with orange juice. That's an interesting taste you get."

Koushiro exchanged another glance with the girl as Taichi dropped a waffle of his own into the toaster. The two younger children shrugged and continued to eat their breakfast, aware of the nightmares they had, but unsure if they wanted to speak of them. They were just dreams… right?

__

"Murderer…"

At once the three children lifted their heads to the ceiling, where the whispering voice came from. There was silence that was haunting, like witnessing a death, and it kept them all quiet. Taichi lowered his eyes to the others and realized that they had heard it, too.

"Just our imagination," Taichi forced another hesitant laugh. "The wind ya know? Crazy. It's just crazy."

Hikari lowered her head, "Yeah. It was just the wind. That's a reasonable explanation, right Koushiro?"

"Of course," the redhead let his voice trail, but his eyes never left the spot on the ceiling. 

They began to slip away from the scare and Taichi delivered three glasses of milk. Pure, delicious white milk. He settled down in the extra seat and set his hands on the table. When he eyed his trembling fingers, he quickly crossed his arms instead, the beat of his heart being felt by his right arm. Taking a few deep breaths, he relaxed into the chair and closed his eyes.

Just as his heart began to calm, a surprising snap of metal caused him to jump and tip back in his chair. The wood hit the kitchen tiles and the brunette's eyes watched as the toasted waffle fell back into place in the toaster. Now sitting on the fallen chair, Taichi raised his hands to his eyes, feeling nauseous from his heart being unable to keep a steady beat.

"Having a little trouble, buddy?" Koushiro leaned over the table to look at his friend. "I never knew you were scared of waffles…"

Taichi gathered his courage and quickly stood himself up. "Yeah, right. And I saw you jump, too, Koushiro."

"She did, too," he pointed to Hikari.

"Pfft! I did not," she waved her hand in front of her face as if she were waving away the very idea of being frightened. 

"Don't try to be the brave one," Taichi snatched his waffle out of the toaster and sat back down.

"Hey, look, Taichi! It's a _waffle_!" his sister pointed as she handed him the syrup container.

Taichi made a false laugh and tilted the container upside down to give his waffle some taste. After a few seconds, he began to tap the bottom a little roughly. "Damn it!"

Both Hikari and Koushiro glanced at the youth again. "What?" they asked in unison.

"Ran out of syrup," he tossed the empty syrup holder to the center of the table and sighed. "What luck I'm having today."

"Oh, sheesh, Taichi," Hikari rolled her eyes, "I thought it was something important."

"This is important!"

"Food is always important to you," Koushiro muttered.

"Of course!" Taichi wailed, "You need food to live! And food is good! I like food…"

Hikari stifled a giggle and before long, the three engaged in a laughable conversation of which they reminisced about their memories.

"I liked the time when we went to the pizza place and Jyou had to hit on the cashier lady," Taichi smirked at the thought of it. " 'Uh, uh ma'am, can I say how lovely your outfit is uh, today?' 'Young man, it's a uniform I wear it everyday.' "

"Yeah, that was funny, but you want to know what I really like to remember?" Hikari paused to wait for them to nod. "The taste of blood."

"Wha'?" Taichi turned to look at his sister. Instead of his pretty younger sister, there sat Devimon with his same evil smirk and the same evil eyes. 

~*~

Taichi pushed himself up off of the ground and sat on the ground of his living room wide-eyed. He twisted within the blanket's grasp to look for Hikari and Koushiro and he spotted them on the couch. The girl was in tears while the pale boy tried his best to comfort her. Taichi had witnessed a double dream.

"Dammit!" he swore and pounded his fist on the carpet, "I hate it when that happens!"

Koushiro lifted his head as Hikari continued to sob onto his shoulder. "What happened to you?" he asked in an unusually quiet tone. This made Taichi suspicious.

"Pinch me." He demanded and held his arm up to Koushiro. 

"What?"

"Pinch me!" he gestured once more to his arm. The red head weakly raised his free arm and grabbed a hold of the skin of Taichi's arm. Shrugging, he pinched the skin and twisted it between his fingers.

"Gah!" the brunette shrieked and jumped away, rubbing his arm furiously. "Dang! That hurt! Ouch-a!"

Hikari raised her head to watch her brother jump about the living room, first blowing on his arm then laughing because of some dream he had. Wiping away her tears she asked, "What kind of dream did you have?"

"Just a dream, just a dream," Taichi looked at his sister -- and her neck -- and rushed to the couch. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine now… just hungry," she continued to wipe away the endless flow of tears. "Can we eat breakfast now?"

"Yeah… I thought I saw some waffles when Taichi was searching for drinks to mix last night." Koushiro slid his arm away from Hikari and crossed his arms.

Taichi froze for a moment as his sibling stood to prepare the food. "Uh… you know what? I think we should go out for breakfast."

"What?"

"Yeah, you know… let's get breakfast in the mall, then go to the arcade or something. Keep us away from the house and boredom. Uh, sound good?" he nervously scratched his neck. 

"Okay," Hikari shrugged. "Just as long as you pay."

"Fine, fine, I'll pay." Taichi watched Hikari disappear into the hallway and heard the bedroom door close. Releasing a breath of relief, he then slouched on the couch, his hands rubbing his face, trying to rub away the excitement.

At last he woke up from his nightmare, but was it the first of a line of frights? Or had it been a one-time spook because of the wild night that took place. There was one thing for sure, however. Whatever visited Koushiro's mind and toyed with the images he saw in real life, whatever took its hands and harmed his baby sister, and whatever caused him to hallucinate so graphically in his dreams… had to be banished -- and soon. For he wasn't going to let some _thing_ haunt Hikari or Koushiro, let alone himself.

Cue the credits!

Oh, whoops… it's not the end _yet_. Hmm… a bit lame in my opinion, but all well.

****

Additional Author's Notes: (As if you weren't complaining about reading too much anyway…) Oh, look! Someone made it all the way to the end! Who am I talking to? I don't know! Ha! …Ahem… I'd like to thank a couple people who offered their ideas for this very story. Such as **samothrace** who delivered such a great title. (Thanks! ^-^) As for ****Jack "The Title King", ****Arch Nemesis,**** MoonAngel, and**** Betsy, I thank you for your title help and don't take it personally that I didn't choose the titles you offered… _They Never Really Leave You_, _Revenge Brought Them Back_, _Laughter In the Shadows/The Forgotten_, and _Fear Rises Again_ are excellent titles, but when I first read "Sometimes They Come Back," it had that eerie little feeling towards it. (Okay, so a second opinion helped me to choose the title. Sue me. …Not literally of course. O.o)

I also want to thank **Sora Jade**,**** The Turquoise Cow,**** Hiroki Rivera,**** samothrace again,**** Jacqueline Land,**** RyokoNoKoibito,**** Tailmon, 2nd Guardian of Love,**** Demiveemons_Candy_Eater,**** Anorexic Chibi, and**** e² for helping me come up with the right digimon to haunt the Digidestined. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I might have to drop both Mimi and Jyou. Unless I come up with a stroke of intelligent mind power for those two, they'll be lost in this story. I know it's just rotten -- sorry. .o

Oh yeah, if any time I push PG-13 to R (by complete accident 'cause I don't know the borderlines for each category -- yeah, shtyoopid me,) please smack a flame in my li'l list of reviews because I'd change it as soon as I possibly can. Yeah… chuckle away, my friends, I'm here for your entertainment only. But please don't ask me to juggle pineapples 'cause I can't. ^-~

So… this is the time where I say, "Thanks for reading! Now be a responsible reader and write a review!" Except half of you would have turned away in the middle of it anyway… o.O


	2. Whispers

****

Whispers

Four o'clock in the afternoon, Hikari sat on the edge of the couch and talked to a friend on the living room telephone. Her fingers wrapped around the object and she leaned back, feeling the cool breeze from the fan across the room and glancing towards her brother who was disappearing into his bedroom. She then looked out the window and stared at the perfect blue sky.

"You know…" she said, changing the current topic of movies to her own, "that blackout last night was kind of creepy. Six, six, six. Did anything happen to you guys?"

"What do you mean? My mom dropped the butter knife on the kitchen floor, but that's it," the other child voiced, his light voice trailing from a low pitch to a higher. 

"Is something wrong, Takeru?" she questioned, noticing his voice.

There was a pause. "What do you mean?" he parroted from before.

"Your voice. It's --"

"So it's changing. Let's drop the subject."

She hid a giggle from the constant jumps of acute-sounding words. "Anyway, I was just asking because Taichi and I had a bit of a startle."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "Koushiro did, too. It's difficult to explain…"

Said the blonde, "So tell me anyway."

"I was going to, chill out." Hikari lifted her left foot onto the coffee table in front of her and twisted her shoelace between two fingers. "Koushiro showed up after the blackout and for a while, he hid out in the bathroom. Taichi went in later on to talk to him, but neither of them will tell me why Koushiro went in there in the first place. But what really tops the cake is I had a dream about… um, LadyDevimon."

"Aren't you a little too mature for haunting nightmares?"

She frowned, "Grow up, Takeru."

"I am," he remarked proudly.

"And I think Taichi had a dream like mine because he woke up and demanded to be pinched. And Koushiro is still as silent as he can be and my neck is --"

The phone was snatched from her grip and her eyes followed it directly to her older brother. "Don't mind her, Takeru," he was saying quickly, "she was just trying to see if you'd believe every word she would say. But she has to go now, so bye." His thumb tapped the talk button and he tossed the phone onto his father's recliner. 

"Why did you do that!" glared Hikari, upset that her brother was acting strangely.

"Saving your ass, 'Kari." Taichi snapped, "You think he'd actually believe whatever dreams we had? He wouldn't care."

She snapped back, "Why are you so protective? Even if he didn't believe me, it wouldn't do any harm!"

"He'd think you're nuts!"

"He's a best friend, Tai'!"

Taichi scooped up the phone and held it in front of the girl. "Mimi's our best friend, too. Why don't you call her? Or Sora? Or how about Jyou? Why don't you call, Jyou, huh? Tell him that we're going insane because we had one strange dream. Tell him that we're going insane because there was a blackout!"

She stood up and stared him straight in the eye; "You don't have to be so rude about it, Taichi!"

Before he could deliver an apology, Taichi's younger sister snatched her kerchief from the armrest of the couch and tied it around her bruised neck. She gave a final glare before marching her way to the door and twisting the doorknob to open it. When a slam echoed through the silent household, he rushed to the entrance and poked his head out into the corridor.

"Where are you going?" he called out to the back of his sister's head. 

"I'm going to find my sanity," she paused in front of the elevator and pressed the down button without looking back.

Taichi slipped out of the apartment and began to walk towards the shaft. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I just don't want a lot of people thinking that we're nuts for dreaming about some digimon."

She began to rock back and forth from heel to toe, humming an unknown tune and ignoring the words of her sibling. The doors opened and she stepped through, immediately pushing the symbol to close the door. Taichi watched it close and blinked a couple times, wondering where exactly she was going. Curious and worried, he then dashed off to the stairwell and tossed open the door and sprinted down the dirty stairs.

~*~

"She said that she was having dreams about LadyDevimon. Didn't get much, though… her brother came on and I guess they had to go somewhere," Takeru informed his older brother through his blue telephone in his room. In his free hand was a paper airplane. It had uneven wings and a bent tip, looking like he had tossed it around a couple times already.

"Sounds like you're getting a voice change, li'l bro'." Yamato gave a chuckle after his brother made a barely audible "ugh." 

"And she asked me if anything strange happened to me during the blackout. Did anything happen to you?"

Yamato thought for a brief second before saying, "Dad dropped the butter knife on the kitchen floor, but that's about it."

"Heh, Mom and Dad seem to have more in common than we think." Takeru raised his eyes to his opening door. "Speaking of Mom…"

"Honey, we've got to be going. My friend is expecting us to be there in time for their six o'clock dinner," Natsuko Takaishi informed with a smile. "Talking to Yamato?"

"Yeah. I'll be off in a minute," he told her while tossing his paper airplane across the room.

"Hi, Yamato!" the mother figure called loud enough for the Ishida to hear.

"Tell her I said hi. No-no! Tell her I said bye." Yamato then added, "No wait, tell her that I want her cherry parfait sometime soon."

"Yamato wants your cherry parfait, Mom."

"He'll get it as soon as he cooks _us_ a dinner," she slipped out the door as the younger blonde informed his brother of the demand.

"But did anything happen to you guys other than the knife thing?" Takeru questioned.

The Ishida replied, "No… You should get going, though. I have to split myself. Tell me anything interesting."

"Will do. Talk to you later."

Tossing the phone onto the bed, he peeled his jacked off of the back of his desk chair and grabbed onto his CD player and headphones. He had been to this woman's house before. There were two boys that were five and a ten-year-old girl who never let Takeru out of her sight. Between the choices of the boys or the girls, he would choose the boys. And because he often was pulled around the house to play with the boys, he had to put up with the noise. This time, he was going to come prepared.

He dashed out of his room and followed his mother out of their apartment. Both of the Takaishis loaded into the elevator along with two other strangers. One flat down, the doors reopened to allow three more individuals inside. Takeru glanced down the light green walls and caught a glance of his friend Inoue Miyako… and Hida Iori with his hands rubbing his eyes. He tried to get a better look of his two friends, but the doors shut before he could see above the heads.

"What's wrong, Iori?" the older girl questioned, her right hand dropping onto his shoulder to give a comforting rub. "Did something happen to your grandpa?"

"No," he trembled under her hold and shrugged to rid her hand from his shoulder. Taking the hint, she knelt down in front of him to glance into his emerald eyes. Large tears fell and trickled down his round cheeks before clashing at the chin and slipping off while his hands tried frantically to wipe everything away.

Miyako forced a smile through this confusing moment and lifted a gentle finger to help swipe away a tear. "Listen," she whispered, "why don't we go inside and have some lunch? I'll make you a delicious dish of your choice."

He silently nodded as the door to the Inoue residence was pushed open. Both of the children walked into the kitchen where the younger one took a seat on a stool by the counter. Miyako rummaged through the cupboards to find something of interest and came across some raspberry jelly. With another moment of digging through the sorts of food, she came up with peanut butter. Holding it up for Iori to see, he gave a nod of acceptance and she closed the cupboards.

"Which do you like more, the peanut butter or the jelly?" questioned Miyako who was having a difficult time opening the jelly jar.

The little boy raised his eyes and cocked his head to the left. Shrugging, he lowered his chin to the counter surface and let out a feeble sigh. His hands folded on his lap and his ankles crossed and began to swing; he usually did this when he was nervous. 

Miyako caught the sigh within her eyes and bit her left cheek. After one last struggle, the lid of the jar twisted open and the sweet aroma of raspberries began to sweep through the air. Breathing in the fresh smell, she raised the lid off of the container and set it on the counter and in front of Iori. 

"It hasn't been cooled yet," she said, closing her eyes to sniff the scent again. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," he whispered. 

Miyako smiled lightly and glanced down into the red jelly. As her eyes caught the jam, her fingers tightened around the jar and her whole body twitched. Iori watched the jerk of motion and straightened his back; his eyes fastened on the girl.

"What's wrong?" he asked in his petite murmur.

Staring into the jar, she shook her head and replied, "Nothing. Nothing at all. I just imagined something. But it's nothing."

~*~

"Hello-o…" Yamato growled, standing in front of the elevator. His finger rapidly punched the down button. Then two fingers… then his fist. "Damn it all, why won't they hurry up?"

The short-tempered youth hit the button once more with his open palm and took off to the stairs. Just as his hand settled on the handle, the elevator doors parted to allow the two children and one mother off of the shaft. He rushed to the doors only to watch it close in front of his face.

"What the…" He swore again under his breath and walked back to the stairwell. Again the doors opened as he reached for the handle. And just like before, the doors shut fiercely in front of his face. After another attempt, he ignored the malfunctioning elevator and jerked open the door. His eyes fell upon the orange cone and a white piece of paper attached to the top.

Kneeling down, he read it aloud: "Stairs will be out of use until minor adjustments are made."

"What adjustments?!" he yelled, glancing at his watch. He was already late for his band practice. Shoving himself through the door, he walked to the elevator again… just in time for them to snap at his feet. 

"Sheesh," he grumbled. Peering down the hallway, he saw the second set of stairs and decided to see if those were in use. As he passed his door, he heard the telephone ring. With another grumble, he pulled the keys out of his pocket and rummaged around to find the right key. When the fourth ring sounded, he pushed open the door and rushed to the telephone. 

"Hello?" he greeted after picking it up. The dial tone sounded. "For the love of music," he grunted and slammed it down. Rushing out the door, he came to a halt when the phone rang again. Slowly turning around, he glanced at the telephone and inched his way back into the apartment. Mere inches away, he waited for it to ring for the third time then quickly snatched it into his hand and asked who was calling. He received the dialing tone.

Yamato sighed and dialed a phone number that would get him to his drummer's house, where he was to show up for practice. "Can't join in our backyard session," he said candidly as the phone was answered, not even caring who had picked it up.

"Dude, we were gonna jam," his fellow band member replied.

"Sorry," he said with a click of the tongue. "Can't make it tomorrow, either. A friend of mine won that contest to be in a movie."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Yamato glanced at his watch, "Practice a new drum solo or something. And again, sorry I can't make it. Later."

The blonde hung up the phone and ran his fingers through his hair, arching a brow when the phone rang again. Picking it up, he said, " 'Ello?" 

It was the dial tone again. 

"For crying out loud," he muttered and dropped the phone onto the table, purposely leaving it off the hook. He straightened his shirt out a bit and checked his pockets for his keys. After spotting them on the dining chair, he fetched the item and swiftly shoved them in his right pocket. As he walked to the door the telephone rang. 

His blue eyes skipped frantically from the doorknob to the table where the telephone lay off the hook and still ringing. Curiously he walked to the phone and raised it to his ear. On the other line, there was a soft sound of laughter before it faded back to the dull tone again. Without any hesitation, Yamato tossed the object to the ground and hurried out of the apartment.

~*~

A tall brunette woman removed her peach-colored apron from her waist and around her neck, placing it on the store counter in front of her. She rubbed her hands together in satisfactory of a day's work and glanced at her young daughter with a smile.

"Honey," she said brightly, "I have to finish our grocery shopping. Can you handle the shop while I'm gone?"

The girl with light brown hair and hints of red raised her head from tending the purple garden violets and returned the smile. "Do you even need to ask?"

"If I'm not back within an hour, lock up and head home. I might stop by to pick up your dress."

"Yes, Mama. I hope it's ready… I can hardly wait to see it." She stood up and dusted the soil off of her hands.

"Me too, Sora, you'll be the prettiest bridesmaid." Ms. Takenouchi nodded to her daughter and picked up her purse, then hurrying out the front door of the flower shop.

The remaining girl walked towards the cash register and brushed the fallen leaves off of the counter. Her cousin was to wed in less than a week; she was asked to be a bridesmaid and without a doubt, she said yes. Though dressing up wasn't the most favorite thing to do for her, she was thrilled to be a part of the most blessed moment in her cousin's life. After all, her cousin was a close friend to the Yagami family and she promised herself to see Taichi in his getup!

She pulled her body onto the counter and sat with perfect posture, trying to get used to it for the upcoming event. Within a few seconds, the door to the shop was opened, the bell above it rang gently, and she lost her posture to greet the newcomer. Much to her surprise, it was Taichi.

"Hey!" she smiled brightly, "what's up?"

He gave a nod as a greeting, "Have you seen Hikari around?"

"Nope." Her smile faded and her lips grew thin. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I kinda pissed her off and uh," he shrugged helplessly. "Chicks."

"Wrong person to say that to… Boy." Sora gave him a look and walked behind the counter to retrieve the broom. She paced to the front of the store and began to sweep while Taichi sprawled himself on his back on top of the counter. 

"I've been looking for two hours… The school, the park, the library --"

"You know where the library is?" Sora asked, honestly surprised.

"Hey, shut--" he caught his words and altered them, "I still can't find her."

"Maybe she went back home?"

"Why would she do that?"

"Because it's the only reasonable thing to do." Sora gestured to the cord telephone that was attached to the wall to his left. 

Sliding off the counter, he snatched up the phone, dialed his own number, and waited for an answer. After two rings, he heard his sister's voice. "Where the hell have you been?" he said in a strong voice.

"Geez, Tai', no wonder she left in the first place," the other girl leaned forward against the broom a little.

"Sorry, 'Kari." He sighed and turned away from Sora saying, "But where were you? You had me worried."

"After I got in the elevator, I rode it up and down for at least fifteen minutes before going back home. You weren't there, so I didn't know what to do," Hikari answered.

"Geez…" He hung his head and gave a chuckle. "But you're all right?"

"Uh huh. Where are you?"

"At Sora's shop. After a few hours of wandering around the place, I thought it'd help to get a girl's opinion."

"Told you to call home?"

"Heh," he smirked, "yeah."

Sora shook her head lightly and walked to the counter to place the broom back in it's place. The cash register made a faint beeping noise and caught her attention. Glancing towards the register, she noticed that something flashing against the black bar. The light green stood out against it and she curiously moved a step forward to read it. _Error._

"How strange," she muttered. Taichi didn't hear her; he was too busy telling his younger sister how he found the library just to see if she was there.

Shrugging, she turned away to ignore the bizarre register and rearrange the roses in the window. "Taichi," she called. He still didn't hear her. She sighed and sat in front of the full-length windows, her fingers gently pulling the roses this way and that to make them look like a bigger display. She removed a dying rose and held it lightly in her left hand, listening to Taichi's conversation.

"What do you think, Taichi? Should I add carnations or just various colors of roses?" she asked, gesturing to the window display. Again, he didn't hear her. Finally, she looked up, "Geez, can't you fit in a word to me here an there?"

Taichi looked up, "Eh, sorry, Sora. Hey, you've got a dead rose in there."

"I already…" her voice trailed as she turned back to see another brown-petal rose. As she removed that one, another rose began to lose its ravishing red color. Confused, she began to remove that one, but two more began to die. Afraid that her mother would come back to see that the flowers had died, Sora started to replace the window roses with the ones deeper inside.

Taichi, still talking on the telephone, watched the girl move back and forth but thought nothing more of it. The teenage girl quietly placed herself in front of the window again with an armful of roses. Each time she placed a rose in a vase, it withered and died in front of her eyes. 

"Ouch!" she shrieked and dropped all of the dead roses. Raising her bleeding finger to her lips, she glanced down at the pile of brown and ugly green. "Those roses aren't supposed to have thorns."

She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and glanced up at Taichi, "Can you give me a --"

~*~

Hikari, lying contently on the couch of her apartment, was staring upwards at the ceiling, lost in thought when a knock came over the door. She pulled herself off the couch and away from her thoughts, then made her way to the door. She opened it with a twist of the knob. 

"Taichi?" she arched a brow. Her brother was standing in front of her eyes with a torn jacket sleeve. "What happened?"

"Where the hell have you been? I looked everywhere for you! The school, the library, the--"

"You know where the library is?"

"God damn it, Hikari, just tell me why you didn't come off that elevator!"

"I told you over the phone where I was!" Hikari stepped to the side as he pushed his way through the door.

"Damn it, Hikari, I've been in the streets looking for you for the past two hours!" 

The girl tilted her head to the left, "But… you were just on the phone at Sora's shop just a few minutes ago…"

"How the hell do you think I got from Sora's shop to here in a few minutes, Hikari?" Taichi threw off his jacket and searched through his pockets. "Seriously, stop this shit right now. I'm growing tired of it."

"Taichi!" she said, surprised of his language. "Then how do you explain the phone call? And what happened to you?"

"'Kari! Call Sora and I'm sure she'd say that I was never there! And it's none of your damn business where I've been."

Her caramel eyes trailed after her brother as he disappeared down the hallway and into their room. Not knowing what else to do, she reached for the phone and dialed the Takenouchi shop. After three rings, Sora answered.

"Hi, Sora. It's 'Kari." She stared down the empty hallway and asked, "Was Taichi just at your shop awhile ago?"

"No." Sora glanced at the empty shop, the pile of beautiful roses on the ground and the fallen broom. "Taichi was never here. Sorry, Hikari. But I've got to go now… Got to lock up. Bye, Hikari."

Sora hung up on the girl in shock. Was it just her imagination? Perhaps she had fallen asleep and dreamt that Taichi arrived in her shop. She was rearranging the roses and she must have dozed off. But how could she have explained the wound on her finger that she had gotten from roses that had no thorns? 

"One of them might have had one…" she concluded to herself, "what other possible explanation can I uphold?"

~*~

Takeru sat in the passenger seat of his mother's car, tapping a rhythmic beat on his left leg. His bright blue eyes focused on his mother who was standing outside of the car on her cellular phone. The friend of theirs called to cancel the dinner plans because of a family emergency. Of course his mother pulled over to ask what had happened.

He twisted the volume knob to turn the music up and he leaned back in his seat. It was strange how no one was on the roads. To him, at least. He cleared his throat and let out a sigh, his eyes closing tiredly. Driving always made the boy tired, even though he wasn't the one driving. 

A song of his liking came to the station and he reached for the knob to, again, turn it up. His lips began to move along to the singer's, though his voice did not project itself to sing. He was embarrassed of his voice changing… At the start, he had thought it was funny. Until he became the jester of the group.

Static interrupted the song and caused him to open his eyes, turning it down frantically. Blinking at the sudden indistinctness, his ears adjusted to the song that became clear again. He looked up at his mother as she entered the vehicle again.

"What's up, mom?" he questioned.

She sighed and shut the door, glancing towards her son. "They had some sort of emergency that I'm not sure of… the details were kind of fuzzy and my cell started going out… Funny thing, too. I just charged it this morning."

"Yeah, weird," he agreed, leaning back in his seat. "Guess we're going home, then?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, hun," Natsuko smiled lightly.

He shrugged and closed his eyes, feeling the car take motion in a U-turn to turn back home. The song drifted to his ears and soothed him. Only seconds after the station revived its solid reception, static began to crackle over the music again. With his eyes still closed, Takeru grimaced, hoping the static would clear again.

When it didn't, he sighed and decided that it wasn't that difficult to listen to. Once his ears got used to the annoying rattle, it changed again. This time, in midst of the vexatious tapping, he heard a distinct _"Let's play!"_

His eyes flashed open and his posture straightened. That voice was all too familiar. That innocent, but _evil_ voice. It was the voice of Puppetmon.

"Did you hear that, Mom?" Takeru jerked his head towards the woman.

"Hear what?"

"That voice in all the static. Did you hear it?"

"What static, Takeru?" she gave a quick look before turning back to the road. "The station is perfectly clear.

Takeru's voice squeaked as he said, "Are you sure?"

"What's wrong, honey?"

His breathing recycled his fear before it died and his heartbeat returned to normal. It could have been his imagination… his tired mind playing tricks on him.

"Oh!"

He jerked his head again. "What, Mom? What!?"

They quickly pulled to the side of the road at the sight of an eerie black puff of smoke rising from the hood of the car. Both of them scrambled out of the car and to the front where Natsuko opened the hood, releasing another stream of smoke into their faces. Coughing and waving it away, Takeru peered at the engine, not knowing a thing about it.

"What happened?"

She sighed and reached for her cell phone again. "I don't know… Maybe we can get a lift out of here…"

Takeru echoed her sigh with his own and looked down the straight highway seeing no other cars. Nothing but trees… A gust of wind swept across the road in the northern direction and a light crackling noise followed. He turned his head a bit to search the forest to the right of him. Nothing but trees again…

The sound of sticks snapping caught his attention and he looked to the left, across the road, to another thicket of shrubbery and trees. His left brow arched a bit as a low rustle of leaves sounded. To either side of him he heard footsteps… the sound of wood clicking on wood. Walking out to the middle of the road, he squinted down the northern way, seeing some sort of object at the peak of the hill.

Thinking it was a car, he raised his arms over his head to gain attention. Instead, his right arm flew up and he hit himself across the forehead. Stumbling back, he shook his head, wondering what had happened. He gave a sharp whistle to his mom, hoping she would see the car. He heard no reply.

"Mom?" he turned around. The car and his mother were farther away than he had thought. He began to jog towards her. Yet he found himself not claiming any ground. Still jogging, he glanced at the ground, seeing his feet move… and also seeing the road shift as well.

"What the?" he muttered, advancing his jog to a spring. The road beneath him began to match his speed. When it was too much for him, he fell down. His eyes frantically raised to his mother who was drifting farther and farther apart.

A truck horn sounded and the boy struggled to turn onto his back as the road kept pulling him farther away. The vehicle he had seen was approaching him and not slowing down. He was traveling with increasing speed. Rolling away from the left side of the road only caused him to roll towards it and soon, he was directly in the path of the truck.

He screamed.

"Takeru! What? What's wrong?!" his mother shook him lightly.

Takeru's eyes widened and he jerked his around him, realizing he was standing in the middle of the road with the car a mere two feet away. He shivered as his mother brought him into a loving embrace, asking him again why he had screamed.

"I… just thought I saw something." His voice trembled as it gave tiny chirps. 

"I suppose we can walk back… I saw a restaurant not too far behind." She pocketed the phone. "The reception here doesn't cooperate too well with my phone."

Takeru lowered his eyes and nodded as they began to walk northward. He turned back to the car, securely locked with his possessions, then turned back to the road ahead. Somehow, being in the broken down car seemed more appealing than walking in the middle of the forest.

Another gust of wind swept past the isolated two and Takeru stepped closer to his mother, feeling like a child again. His eyes kept watch on the forest side; the innocent blue shade had faded to a dim gray. The rustle of leaves and clicking wood came to his mind again as a faint _"Let's play!"_ echoed in the air. He didn't bother to ask his mother if she heard the haunting laughter that he did.

~*~

Yamato opened the door to exit the music store. He had spent the majority of the afternoon and evening in it speaking with the manager about which type of guitar was ideal for a teenager. Slipping in his empty hands in his pockets, he let out a sigh, approaching the corner of the street. 

The sign flashed Do Not Walk and he obeyed, glancing down each street for any cars. Finding none, he decided to cross. Once he reached the middle, he heard the slight laughter of two rambunctious characters. Stopping, he turned to look at the opposite side of the road, seeing the streetlight flash each color at once. 

Arching a brow, he looked at the other two lights to his left and right, seeing that they were functioning perfectly. Looking back at the malfunctioning lights, he watched as it flashed green… and then red. Something pushed him from behind and he turned, ready to glare at the child who was being so rude. Yet there was no one. No one was on the streets as the sun was setting. No cars were seen and no sounds were heard.

Except the chuckling of mischief-makers. 

Yamato turned back around, trying to convince himself that someone was on the streets with him. Just then, an ice cream cone rolled to his feet. He knelt to pick it up and looked at it in confusion. A cold substance fell atop his hand and it slowly slipped down his skin. Clenching his fists, he lowered his head to let the ice cream fall in one clump to the ground.

He let out a growl and yelled, "Knock it off! Whoever you are!"

The sound of running was heard across the intersection near the flashing lights. He automatically made a dash towards it. While crossing the mid-section, he heard the honk of a car and froze, turning towards the noise. His eyes caught the headlights of a blue sports car as it neared him, hearing the tires screech across the street as the breaks were slammed. From instinct, he jumped as far up as he could.

His feet came in contact with the hood of the car before he lost balance and fell to the side. The driver immediately exited the car, asking repeated questions concerning his health. Yamato grunted on the asphalt and sat up, feeling a sharp pain in his right shoulder. Again he heard the trailing laughter of the rascals.

"S-sorry, sir," he muttered, scrambling to his feet and running off.

Before long he came to his apartment complex, his hair sticky with ice cream, his shoulder aching, and his mind baffled. He entered the home, seeing that it was empty as usual. Dropping onto a chair, he sighed, rubbing his forehead lightly. The telephone rang and he jumped.

Cautiously he picked it up and raised it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Yamato?" Takeru's voice questioned. "It's Takeru…"

There was a pause.

"Something really weird is going on," the two brothers said together.

To Be Continued…

Well… the less-dramatic chapter. But at least I got it out. It was rather lengthy compared to the first, I think. And I'm pretty sure this might be the average length for quite a few. Silly me… it took me forever to get around to this second chapter that I've forgotten which digimon spooks Miyako, Iori, Ken, and Daisuke… 

Erk… Anyone remember, by any chance? :: sweatdrops :: Anyway… Guess who's spooking Sora! Mwahaha--hack! Cough! ACK! …Hopefully this still catches the interest of a few of you.


End file.
